Goldman Sachs published a Research Report stating that NetEase (09999.HK)(NTES.US) has been performing strongly since the launch of Season Zero of the third-person hero shooter game "Marvel's Contest of Champions" in December last year. It predicts that the recent launch of a new season will further boost player sentiment, and the introduction of season passes and new character equipment will help enhance monetization levels. It is estimated that this game can generate over $0.4 billion in annual revenue this year, with monthly active users expected to reach 20 million and the ARPU for the first twelve months revised up to $20.

Correspondingly, Goldman Sachs has raised its forecast for NetEase's revenue from PC gaming this year to a 26% year-on-year growth, anticipating an overall gaming revenue increase of 9%. It pointed out that since last year, NetEase has strengthened game development and publishing in the global market, which has shown initial effectiveness, along with renewed collaboration with Blizzard Games, and believes this can drive an increase in NetEase's PC and console gaming revenue by 30% to 40% in the fourth quarter of last year and throughout this year.

Goldman Sachs has lowered its revenue forecast for NetEase last year by 0.2%, maintaining the Non-GAAP net profit estimate at 31.72 billion yuan; revenue forecasts for this and next year have been increased by 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively, while the Non-GAAP net profit projections have been revised up by 0.7% and 0.5% to 35.065 billion and 38.164 billion yuan, with the Target Price raised from 169 yuan to 181 yuan, believing that the risk-return profile is attractive, maintaining a rating of 'Buy'.